The Social Change Experiences of College Students at an Institution of Higher Learning

The sociology of education provides the most effective means to look into in the dynamics of education and the changes it produces in the individual. This research uses in-depth field interviews to study the social change experienced by a group of college students at a private higher learning institution in Malaysia. The results reveal that there are four main elements in the social change experienced by this group of students. The process begins with the self-awareness by students of their social condition both in past and present situations. The second element is their adaptability, where students come to understand how to interact with their circumstances and are able to find ways to adapt to their environment. This is followed by the third element, responsibility, where students become responsible to the degree that they possess leadership abilities; thoughtfulness, independence, supportiveness and determination. The last element is potentiality, which is important in helping students to progress to a higher stage of life by actualizing their full potential. These findings have identified the elements of social change in the sociology of education in the context higher education.


Introduction
Higher education, in Malaysia specifically, has a variety of demands placed upon it (Sirat, 2005;Morris, 2007).With its mission to build and create a higher education environment that is conducive for the development of a superior centre of knowledge and to generate individuals who are competent, innovative and of noble character to serve the needs of the nation and the world.Higher education is expected to produce highly educated people through its teaching programme.It also expected to play an active part in commercialization and exploitation of the knowledge base both to generate income and to support economic growth of the country (Large & Topel, 2006;Sullivan & Rosin, 2008).In 21st century Malaysia there is the need for institutions of higher education that are forward-looking both academically and societally.Society contains the conventional truths and dynamics of an evolving organism that is continually changing to maintain a degree of stability among its citizens.The sociology of education is important as it leads to a better understanding of circumstances inside institutions of higher learning, with the study of social change among students being an urgent need, especially in this country.Today, people are living in a competitive economy where businesses and individuals are continually seeking advantage and higher profits.This study finds that the effort to improve self-awareness on the part of college students is an important aspect of the long-term struggle to create a more equitable society in the country Malaysia.It is also argues that students, especially at institutions of higher education, must comprise an integral part of the struggle for social improvement, as they strive to become participating citizens in a democratic society.Social change results only when people take it upon themselves the task of getting involved and making a difference.

The Sociology of Education in Higher Learning Institutions
Higher education plays a major role in the shaping of human capital in contemporary Malaysia coupled with The Ministry of Higher Education's mission is to create a higher education environment that will foster the development of academic and institutional excellence.It is in line with the vision of the government to make Malaysia a centre of educational excellence and to internationalize of Malaysian education (http://www.mohe.gov.my;Morris, 2007).Thus, colleges and universities are not only educating students but are training them by providing important skills, so that they can contribute to the society more effectively.The understanding of the sociological implications of the choices they make will contribute significantly to the ability of students to make appropriate choices in any particular social context.The understanding of social change as it takes place during the process of socialization will enable them to become a more competent member of society (Gellens & Levine, 1995;Etzioni, 1991;Sadovnik, 2007 andMcIntyre, 2008).Individuals must be able to understand the processes and values of their society in order to acquire those skills that will allow for their effective social participation.Without such awareness students will not know what to do, how to think, how to talk, what to value, etc.In college, learning is as diverse as the range of social experience in general and the activities too are of a wide variety.It is believed that within such a context individuals can, with a conscious effort, develop into valuable members of society.To determine how this may best be done is the aim of this research.

The Present Study
The goal of this study is to identify the elements involved in the process of social change that take place at college setting.Findings clarify how social change influences the development of young adults to enable them to become active members of the democratic society.

Method
A qualitative in-depth interview has been used to focus on the process, meaning and understanding of social experiences among college students, and it has been able to provide a rich descriptive product as its research output.This method can reveal the real experiences of the participants in college environment.The in-depth interviews have been carried out on a sample consisting of 15 Malaysian students age 19-23.The purposive sampling is used in the research in order to provide a clear idea of the type of students whom are being studied.This study makes use of conveniently obtained participants, students from all faculties, who have enrolled for a diploma courses with the duration of study two years and four months, and have an entry requirement of an S.P.M or equivalent qualification, with at least three credits plus a pass in Bahasa Malaysia.

Procedure
The researcher is the means for data collection and analysis, with the results obtained directly through observation, interview and field memos.The use of triangulation has strengthened the internal validity of the study.The data has been collected through interviews of approximately one to three hours in length.The interviews have been conducted in English and where the interviewee reverted to Chinese was translated simultaneously into English by the researcher herself.All interviews were electrically recorded by MP4 and as well as transcribed.Informal observation of the setting in which the interview was conducted has been include to provide confirmatory information.After the researcher had given participants a general over-view of the purpose of the study, the interviews focused on the participants telling of their first experience in college, sharing with the interviewer the development of their adjustment and the daily life changes encountered in their new academic environment.It is such data that are analyzed throughout the study.The preliminary analysis was carried out immediately after each interview, with the data then encoded and recorded.All interviews for this study have been conducted by researcher in person.The data has been analyzed by her using the comparative method, which has been carried out in the following six steps: Step 1: The researcher transcribes all the interviews in detail and then listens to the recordings to complete the transcript.It is only then that the transcript is ready for the next step; encoding process.
Step 2: The themes and concepts are subjected to an encoding process and further compared across interviews.The data is analyzed in terms of explicit themes, relative emphasis on various topics, the amount of space or time devoted to certain topics and numerous other dimensions.The goal of coding is to transform the data from an unstructured state into clear ideas about what is contained in the data.The more systematic the encoding schemes, the easier it is to allow the data to talk to the researcher.The encoded data that appears to address the research questions are analyzed by comparing segments of the data with each other within each interview transcript.
Step 3: Re-reading, re-encoding, and the linking of themes and concepts are carried out with these processes repeated many times.This involves recognizing themes which refer to specific concepts and events; secondly, to explain what is meant by specific concepts and themes, and lastly, encode those themes and concepts.
Step 4: This is the stage where the researcher organized the data to position it most effectively into the established structure.A set of themes that characterize the process of social change among the college students are inductively constructed.
Step 5: At this stage the finding from previous step are sent to a third person for review and comments on the accuracy and significance.Detailed discussion and debate are carrying out o reach a final conclusion.
Step 6: Finally, the researcher analyses the data in search of patterns and themes recurring regularity in the data or in units of the data.It also involves looking for paradoxes and irregularities.This stage involves a synthesis that re-contextualizes any newly found categories.The researcher is then able validate the patterns and themes established by the analysis, and on the basis of this a flow chart is developed.

Validity Check
This researcher has interviewed 12 participants to arrive the final themes, categories and sub-categories to establish the theoretical data base.The study then incorporated an additional three participants in the cross analysis to confirm that the final list of themes and main categories were the same for all of the data collected.The reanalysis also confirmed the original pattern of results, and confirmed that the data had reached the saturation stage and there is no new findings immerging.It is thereby confirmed that the results are stable and unlikely to change even with the inclusion of three more participants.This can be taken as a validity check on the data gathering process as shown by Lincoln & Guba (1985), Myer (2000), Gillham (2005) and Barbour (2008).

Self-awareness
This study reveals that awareness of one's self significantly influences the actions of individual students and how they respond and interpret the meanings of their environment.When students enroll in a college to further their studies, they bring with them the values and beliefs of their pass experience and are obliged to fit them into the new environment.Awareness of the actual social context aids the student in attaining a better means to cope with future encounters.The social environment plays a key role in providing a contextual setting for the relationships that will influence the course of the students' development.Students tend to be interactively associative with their environment.Social awareness has been proven to be closely linked to the other elements of society.As students become aware of themselves they are able to function better as one of the elements in the social environment.As seen in the next schema, a student's social awareness of religion, language, culture, age, family, finance and job experiences directly contribute to his or her adaptability.Social change has an immense impact on a student life.
It has been found that self-awareness, the capacity to know them, is very important in helping students to progress effectively from one stage of life to a better one.Students having a good understanding of their social environment and character will know themselves better and be more able to note their own advantages and disadvantages on the journey to advancement.When students are conscious of their social situation and condition, know who they are and whom they are dealing with, they can add the experience they gained from the past to cope effectively with a present situation, and only then are they are able to respond to their surroundings affectively.(Refer to Figure 1)

Adaptability
A second theme that emerged from the data was adaptability.College students generally take a short period of times to adapt to their new environment.In order for students to overcome the problems that they encounter, they have to work them out with resolution.There are various types of strategies that can be applied and most often students practice self-reflection, look for peer help and may register complaints.The other way of adapting to a new environment is by taking part in social activities and becoming an active person.As pointed out by Lauer (1982) and Clarke (2003), significant changes in human behavior can be brought about only if those who need to change participate in deciding what the change should be and how it should be made.
The active participation of people in small groups has been successfully employed to make specific changes in individuals.Either through face-to-face or non-face-to-face communication, college students to some degree adjust to the expectations of their society.Each individual learns to interact with others and to perform his or her role.How each individual changes depends on the choices that he or she makes.This process of socialization makes social life possible and involves all aspects of sociology.It contributes to the stability of social life and brings about change in individuals as they interact with their society.Through the process of social interaction, college students learn from others such as family, friends and teachers.This study finds that the greater the diversity in people whom students meet in college, the more adaptability they can be expected to have in the working world or more broadly in the world outside of college, and this also develops a student's social competences, as Astin (1985), Pascarella & Terenzini (1991), Bjarnason & Coldstream (2003) and McNay (2006) have found.
The transformation achieved through education does not need to rely solely on actions taken at the institutional level.Students who are actively involved in interactions both inside and outside of classroom activities and are motivated by what is taught intentional and unintentionally across the experiences in college environment, and this will have an influence on everyone who is engaged in the process of higher education.Higher education plays a major role in the shaping of human capital in contemporary Malaysia.Thus, colleges and universities are not only educating students but are also training them by providing important social skills, so that they can perform in the society more effectively.(Refer to Figure 2) Adaptability is the stage where students come to understand how to interact with their circumstances, where they become able to find ways to adapt and adjust in order to have a better and a more comfortable existence This is in line with findings by Sanderson (1991), Tepperman & Richardson (1991), Gellens & Levine (1995), Gorrod et al., (2002) and Grusec & Hastings (2007), who state that how successful the adjustment to change is very much dependent on how similar the new environment is to the past one and depends on the attitudes of the individual towards change.Individuals who are able to adapt successfully have the traits of high self-esteem, optimism, strong personalities, and are thus well prepared to grow stronger.Here are some sample quotations from the field interviews: Everyone is different.Everyone has a different pace.Not everyone can be in this pace...I have changed, I try to adjust myself.We allocate jobs, assign jobs so everyone takes some part and we discuss it later.We try to plan things out.Dealing with people needs a lot of knowledge.I am still learning.Failure helps me to overcome and adjust my pace too … from time to time… I can adapt faster now… Now I can take a job or responsibility.(Participant 1) Something special in this college is that students will help each other.They are very co-operative, particularly in organizing activities.There were many big events organized by students themselves.I think this is something great.I myself enjoy it very much.I treat teachers as friends too, sometimes.In my school, teachers were quite friendly and nice.They were helpful and strict in class.I liked it.(Participant 14) Now we do projects, not individually, most of the time in groups, we spend time meaningfully.Sometimes, perhaps I have to do more than others, but I still enjoy and feel grateful of them.At times, we stay late in the night and so on.(Participant 3) I slowly learnt there are higher things to study from books and social activities.Now I learn not only from books.I've leant how to communicate with outsiders.I've changed my mind set.I'm here not only for study.Although my friends went to a bigger school in Kuala Lumpur, they merely study, they are not happy.They do not have the same feelings as us.(Participant 7)

Responsibility
This study finds that at this stage students will integrate their self-awareness, adaptability and responsibility with the need to coordinate their component parts in order to contribute to the maintenance of the group.Students must regulate the interrelationships of their component capabilities.They must also integrate their relationships with the other three functional imperatives.At this stage students are considered responsible to the extent that they are able to regulate the interrelationships of their component parts by blending their personality into the group.Problem solving and decision skills are inherent in responsibilities required of the leadership role.It is found that college students utilize their problem solving skills to solve their problems and advance their learning.As Cargan & Ballantine (1985), Cross et al., (2001) and Hoover (2002) have pointed out, the basic problem solving procedures established by John Dewey in 1910 are still useable by students when they define and analyze a problem, and development a set of criteria by which to judge potential solutions, list possible alternatives, evaluate all solutions and finally choose the best alternative solution.
And so it is that responsibility (the desire to contribute) is the third focus of this research.This research finds that students are able to be responsible to the degrees to which they possess leadership abilities; thoughtfulness, independence, responsibly, supportiveness and determination.This also includes problem solving skills; communicativeness, critical thinking, timing, decisiveness, self-control, action orientation and realism.Social change has a variety of causes.This research finds that responsibility provides students with the opportunity to explore and enhance and practice their knowledge and skills in a real-life environment.As stated by Coffey (2001), Calhoun, Rojek & Turner (2005) and Newman (2006), change is the preeminent characteristic of modern human societies.It is caused by a variety of social forces; these include environment, cultural innovation and technological diffusion.Social change is driven by human action and it changes with the changes in human societies.From the beginning of being self-aware of one's capacities and social characteristics, a student moves on to the adaptability stage that contributes to the understanding of circumstances, to the ability to face changes and further explore the social environment.(Refer to Figure 3) In this research, it is found that students who have the ability to influence others through encouragement and sensitive, considerate and supportive direction become leaders and inspire their followers to accept challenges and reach distant goals.A person who invests a high level of effort to a given task will possess a strong need to achieve and excel in whatever he or she does.In the interviews, student leaders state that they take the initiative in making decisions and have a willingness to accept responsibility.They show the ability to solve problems, make good decisions and communicate in a way that others understand.Zanden & Wilfried (1990), Tischler (1996), Brown (2009) and Northouse (2009) define leadership as the ability to lead; a simple assertion but a very complex process.There are thousands of leadership studies even now being performed to identify the traits of an effective leader.It is generally agreed that leadership includes such traits as being trustworthy, foresighted, positive, intelligent, encouraging, informed, decisive and able to plan ahead.
The socialization performed by education is an ongoing process, and by nature students integrate their knowledge of the social environment with the ability to explore further for the benefit of their further development (Mulkey, 1993;Hamilton & Thompson, 2002;Scott, 2006;and Cooley, 2009).College students will try to get to know themselves better by becoming involved in group activities.Responsibility is holistic and interactive in nature.Students relate to each other in groups when they are involved in sports, clubs activities, volunteerism and other informal activities.They come to know themselves and others better as a result of this interaction.This concurs with the findings of Bjarnason & Coldstream (2003), Watson (2007), Brown (2009) and Northouse (2009).
Higher education, to be fully effective, must pay close attention to the development of decision making skills and of a realistic basis for self-esteem.Education should help college students acquire durable self-esteem and close human relationships that enable them to learn about themselves through others (Muuss & Porton, 2002;Schneider & Silverman, 2006;Northouse, 2009).As Coffey (2001), Cooley (2009) and Northouse (2009) have affirmed, the process of change involves natural selection from the surrounding influences together with a degree of creativity in thought and action when reacting to and choosing from influences.Social change, as a process, may be slow and its direction may be difficult to determine, but it is inevitable in the social environment.College students become more complex individuals as they assess, evaluate, adapt to, and integrate the knowledge and abilities that they have gained from applying them to tasks in their group activities or studies.And so it is that these students move on to another stage of social change -potentiality.

Potentiality
The last themes that emerged from the analysis of data are potentiality.Potentiality refers to those elements that serve to vitalize and maintain the motivation of individuals as they perform their roles established social expectations.The educational system must furnish, maintain, and renew both the motivation of the college students and the cultural patterns that create and sustain that motivation.Potentiality also refers to the need for a group to furnish, maintain and renew the motivations of its members.This is embedded in the functionalist theory of stratification.It motivates individuals to strive to move up in the system and occupy a higher-level position.This motivation must not only be created by the system but renewed from time to time in order to keep the system working and the people striving.Potentiality, at the macro-level, refers to the need to sustain the system and keep people involved in striving to move up in the system.The norms and values that support such a system and such striving must be firmly put into place and sustained.This study supports findings of Anderson, Riddle & Martin (1999), DeCenzo & Silhanek (2002), Schriver (2004), Watson (2007) and Grusec & Hastings (2007) who find that the need for achievement will drive a person to excel, to adapt to a set of standards, to strive for success and develop social competency.(Refer to Figure 4) Here are some sample quotations from the field interviews: I will ask others to give comments and suggestions.Then I gather all ideas.Compare among each one, I study each of them.I will spend time to analyze them.I mean I do all the homework.Then I will make the decision.(Participant 5) I will change and listen to criticism.I want to be a better person in doing my design as in sport.(Participant 13) He used to work as a student's helper in general affair division.He was assign to do a lot of tough work like clearing the store room by moving out all the old books and stuff for recycling in two days notice.He even stays up late in the evening to do that work.When I talk to his superior, he praises him by saying that his is a good child, he is helpful and not calculative he is willing to do anything and everything.So, they like him very much, with him they can do many impossible jobs.(Field notes-Participant 4) I thank my parents for working so hard for us; I do not have to worry about money and expense.I treasure my opportunity to study here very much.(Participant 12) She is caring, thoughtful and still very directive in her oral communication.She is very firm in her future planning.She insisted that she must go for further studies in Taiwan.She wants to be a Media News Caster.She used to wear nice dress and blouse and put on make-up most of the time when I see her. (Field Notes-Participant 1) He planned to further his studies two years later, because he has to earn the tuition fees by working as a full timer.His attitude is good, independent, determination and responsible.He mentioned that he want both his parents to stay in a better house and better environment.So, he will to work harder than before.(Field Notes-Participant 3) "Before I came, I had very low in self esteem.I had to change myself to be more active and outgoing.I never realize until my friends told me.I am more positive now.Yes, I can.If the person who criticize me not in a good manner, then I will see.(Participant 5) College prepares me for industry.I am fully prepared.It is because in this college; teachers, and environment are all okay.I had a very colorful and fruitful college life.(Participant 6) The Student's potentiality (his or her capacity for advancement), is the last social attribute and is highly important in helping him or her to excel and develop to a higher stage of live by actualizing their full potential.When a student possesses useful language skills, is very pro-active and highly self-aware, he or she will achieve his or her full potential in the journey of advancement (Domaine, 1981;Bjarnason &Coldstream, 2003 andWatson, 2007).This research finds that the elements of potentiality are being pro-active, willing to contribute, appreciative, respectful of differences, prepared for the future, ready for change, high in self-expectation and highly flexible.These finding are in agreement with the research done by Johnson (1996), Bjarnason & Coldstream (2003), and Northouse (2009) who find that at the heart of socialization is the growing awareness that the social world involves more than the individual's own experiences, and the needs of a society are more than those of the individuals in it.Through the socialization process, an individual use values to create an ideal self and to make judgments about them.Young people often select new models for their behavior and might in the process reject parental values.(Refer to Figure 5)

Factors Trigger Social Change in College Students
This study also finds that there are ways in which these factors trigger social change in the college environment.For example it is found that a student's past social experience plays a significant role in his or her adaptability and later ability to deal with others.As a consequence of bad experiences some students come to lack self-esteem.This leads to the tendency to deprecate their ability and achievements (Alcock, Carment, & Sadava (1994), Muss & Porton (1998) and Gorrod et al., (2002).Self-esteem is a person's positive self-evaluation (Brehm & Kassin, 1990;Mruk, 1999;Hoover, 2002;Rohall, Milkie &Lucas, 2007 andVaughan &Hogg, 2008).Also other research has shown that students with low self-esteem have difficulty in receiving criticism.As a result, they refuse to take part in social activities and so isolate themselves from others.This too triggers social change among the students.So, it can be concluded the students might best be encouraged to play a more active role in changing their attitudes; they should be motivated to make changes.This is supported by Feldman (1998), Muuss &Porton (1998), andTownsend (1999), and corroborated by the following comments by the participants: During secondary, there were 42 of us in a class, my position was 20 something.I am always inferior among all.They were so much better than me.They would say that because of me they became no good.(Participant 1) He used to fear most of the students, we are all very scared.His standard is too advanced and too high.Senior told me out of 60 students, 54 failed.6 passed only.I would have to study under Dr H, I think I will fail again; I fail again… I'm still scared that I will fail, but I failed once under a different teacher.(Participant 3) Three of us: my elder sister and brother and myself.I am the youngest.My sister is six years older than me while my brother is seven years older.When I was young, nobody spoke to me.I used telephone to talk to my parents.I still think that it is still quite a big gap.We didn't talk much.It is because when I was young, my sister and brother went to school, but I was in kindergarten and my parents were often at work… I learnt swimming: free style and others.Now, I dare not wear swimming suit because of my body shape.(Participant 5) She wants to get re-assurance and support on what she is going to say.She is a soft spoken person.She refuses to talk about her personal matters when asked.She request to off record when she talks about her family problems at the beginning stage.Her father owns a laundry shop, she use to cry for unable to solve her problems.Observe low self concept and self closed person.(Field notes Participant 5) He is a tall and dark guy.He face is full of pimples and it is obviously seen to be quite serious.He is low in self concept.Not so confident too, but he respect teacher very much… So, he is very concern about his pimples and others view on his face.He said that he will be very nervous when sees girls.He will have tongue twisted and speechless.(Filed notes Participant 8) She is quiet and shy; she looks bright and fair in skin color even she is very soft spoken person, long hair and low self esteem.She has problems in dealing with people; she can't express her ideas very well.She kept saying ok and yes.But you know that she does not know her own needs and wants.(Field notes Participant 10) She loves sport very much and being the eldest in the family of four she is low in self esteem especially in her studies.(Field notes Participant 14) While from an educator's point of view, teachers and their institution should joint in providing opportunities, so that students will be helped to become involved and participate actively in the attainment of their expectations.From the student perspective, they must learn the importance of self-awareness, particularly of their weaknesses, so that they can correct them or at least minimize them for their future advancement.Students who possess low self-awareness will not contribute to social change in the college environment.This group of students is observed to be ineffective in their face-to-face communication.They will try not associate well with others and often choose to use non-personal communication methods to relate with others.Such students, while in college, should be provided with a greater opportunity to interact personally with others, beginning perhaps with group projects and class activities.(Refer to Figure 6) Social change, as found in this study, is a reciprocal process; students need to play an active and interactive role in their social groups, so that they will be able to become aware of their own abilities, to interpret and respond to the influences of their environment.An individual also must be aware of external circumstances and adapt them to his or her own needs, or when necessary adapt to them.Individuals must continually examine their abilities and their relationships with one another in order to be able to achieve their goals.Lastly, an individual must desire advancement.This is a mindset that is fundamentally important in allowing them to excel and actualize their full potential.Social change is a basic requirement for the continued development and growth of a society.It is important to examine whether a given social change will contribute to it progress and how individuals are related to these changes.

Discussion
This study highlights the elements of the social change process in a college setting.In-depth interviews reveal sub categories at the level of the individual and the change process and further provide evidence of both the universal and contextual aspects of the sociology of education in higher learning institutions.It confirms that environment plays a significant role in the behavioral aspects of a student's experience.Teachers are a key factor in the human environment of a college, and he or she helps students to develop those attitudes and skills that are essential to their future success.Students learn from peers through interaction, which includes social support.A strong social climate gives strength to students and encourages them to continue their engagement with tasks, to analyze strategies and manage failure and its frustrations.In this way human contact and interaction become fruitful stimuli in a student's development.In the process of educational socialization, the stages in a group of individuals are interactive changes at all levels.The interaction between levels is reciprocal among components of larger systems.They are dynamic and complex interactions.Change is so much a part of human life that people often take it for granted.As stated by Boudon (1986), Williams & Arrigo (2005), Hughes & Kroehler (2009), the study of social change is an attempt to understand and predict changes in the world.In order for humans to survive, they must achieve a working relationship with their environment.There are many types of adaptation.Individuals have to make appropriate adjustments to adapt to the changes in their environment.College students are exposed to other students from diverse social, ethnic and economic backgrounds, which have the potential of enabling them to become more tolerant.
This study is in agreement with the findings of Wallace & Wolf (1980), Turner (1994), Schaefer (2003), Rury (2009) who have been led by their research to the conclusion that social change is a slippery concept.It takes place everywhere that individuals function within the context of society.Social change consists of the modification of the social organization of a society in any of its social institutional or social functions.It also includes changes in attitudes and beliefs.This study supports the generally agreed upon contention that early family life significantly effects a college student's patterns of behavior, particularly as he or she generates loneliness and dependency.In recent years, the relationship among family members has change significantly.Families have become smaller and often both parents work.Changes in family structure, such as single parenting, offer fewer financial resources.This research finds that education, as it manifests itself in a college environment, contributes to social change by making social interaction an effective pathway to success for individuals and groups when they are able to utilize it for self-improvement and social mobility irrespective of their family background.Social change is a fundamental requirement for the continued development and growth of a society.It is important to determine whether a given social change will lead to positive outcome.(Refer to Figure 7) There is no single cause for change, there are many factors that interact to disrupt, alter, destroy, promote, reward and humiliate both groups and individuals.Education helps society to solve the problems caused by change.It provides individuals with skills, knowledge and titles that upgrade their social status.Formal education allows a person to enter more prestigious occupations and gives greater opportunity for job advancement and mobility.If there is widespread educational failure not only individuals but the society as a whole will suffer, especially in the age of high technology and globalization.So, the quality of education is important in this country.Changes in the way people see themselves changes their world (Alcock, Carment & Sadava, 1994;Gellens &Levine, 1995 andSmith &Preston, 1997).
It is evident that the understanding of the sociological implications of the choices they make will positively contribute to the ability of students to make appropriate choices in a particular social context.The understanding of change as it takes place during the process of socialization will enable a person to become a more competent member of society (Gellens & Levine, 1995;Etzioni, 1991;Sadovnik, 2007 andMcIntyre, 2008).This means that individuals must be able to understand the processes and values of their society in order for them to acquire those skills that will allow them to become effective social participants.And so, as we have observed, without such awareness students will not know what to do, how to think, to value, or how to respond the circumstance.In college, learning is as diverse as the range of social experience in general and the activities too are of a wide variety.It is believed that within such a context individuals can, with a conscious effort, develop into valuable members of society and achieve full potentiality in their life.

Figure
Figure 1.Self-Awareness and its Sub-Categories.

Figure 4 .
Figure 4. Potentiality and Its Sub-Categories